5 Best Thursday Columns

Nicholas Kristof on Chemicals and Cancer In a column tinged with urgency, Kristof turns
his discerning gaze to the "Mount Everest of the medical mainstream,"
the president's Cancer Panel, which is releasing a 200-page report
warning that the government's "lackadaisical approach" to the
regulation of chemicals has widespread consequences for public health
in America. The report "blames weak laws, lax enforcement and
fragmented authority, as well as the existing regulatory presumption
that chemicals are safe unless strong evidence emerges to the
contrary," writes Kristof, warning that the report should not become a
political issue. "Some 41 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with
cancer at some point in their lives, and they include Democrats and
Republicans alike."

Gail Collins on the Sacrosanct Second Amendment Writing in The New York Times, Collins examines
the paradox at the heart of the present gun-control conversation:
"There seems to be a strong sentiment in Congress that the only
constitutional right suspected terrorists have is the right to bear
arms." Legislators in thrall to the powerful gun lobby are protesting a
bill that would prevent anyone flagged on the FBI terrorist watchlist
from buying weapons. Abandoning her usual tone of detached amusement,
Collins makes no effort to hide her bewilderment, or her anger: "A guy
who stands up in the House and defends the torture of terror suspects
will nearly faint with horror at the prospect of depriving someone on
the watch list of the right to purchase a pistol."

Charles
Faddis on Nuclear-Plant Security In a guest turn at The New York
Times, Faddis, a former CIA officer, briefs readers on an overlooked
security risk: Sharif Mobley, a nuclear-plant
maintenance worker turned al-Qaeda hopeful. Mobley might know only a
minimal amount about the American nuclear plants where he worked, but
as Faddis explains, that would be more than enough to compromise
security on a disastrous scale. "For now, we have no choice but to
assume that Mr. Mobley did in fact pass on details about plant
security, and we need to take immediate steps to head off any possible
terrorist attack," Faddis warns. "For too long we've assumed that a
nuclear plant is safe as long as its reactor is protected. Sharif
Mobley knew better. Now, chances are, so does Al Qaeda."

George Will on Afghanistan's Ticking Clock After sitting down with David Petraeus, the Washington Post columnist questions whether the White House's pullout date in 2011 undercuts the long-term goals of the counterinsurgency: clear, hold, and build.

First,
is an area 'cleared' only because the Taliban have cleared out, knowing
they can wait out the enemy and then return? The Americans are going
home; the Taliban are home. Second, what can be held by a
counterinsurgency force focused on an exit strategy? Third, can
anything lasting be built when what has been only tenuously cleared is
only conditionally held?

David Broder on Two Risks to the Two-Party System The Washington Post columnist waxes hyperbolic
about the danger Nick Clegg and Charlie Crist pose to the two-party
system in the U.S. and U.K. "The ranks of the disaffected have exploded
over proposals on health care, immigration and other issues, targeting
Republicans, Democrats and politicians in general as the mood strikes
them," he argues, setting the scene for the the two-party system's
nightmare scenario:

If either of the third-party or independent
challenges succeeds on either side of the Atlantic, it would clearly
signal to other ambitious politicians that old loyalties of the
two-party era have been so weakened by the combination of modern media
politics and tough economic times that they cannot prevail.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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Jared Keller is a journalist based in New York. He has written for Bloomberg Businessweek, Pacific Standard, and Al Jazeera America, and is a former associate editor for The Atlantic.